The Justice Department’s dismissal of its case against John Edwards on Wednesday brought a close to a controversial prosecution which many campaign finance experts contended was doomed from the outset.
In dismissing the case, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said it was DOJ’s duty to “bring hard cases when we believe that the facts and the law support charging a candidate for high office with a crime.”
Breuer said he was proud of the way that federal prosecutors conducted themselves during the trial, but said DOJ would dismiss the five remaining counts on which jurors where unable to reach a verdict.
The dismissal of the case, however, doesn’t quite bring an end to the Edwards saga. Edwards mistress Rielle Hunter will be out with a book soon and will be featured in an interview on ABC’s 20/20 on June 22.
Late update: Via NPR’s Carrie Johnson, here’s a response to the dismissal of the case from the Edwards team:
“While John has repeatedly admitted to his sins, he has also consistently asserted, as we demonstrated at the trial, that he did not violate any campaign law nor even imagined that any campaign laws could apply. We are confident that the outcome of any new trial would have been the same. We are very glad that, after living under this cloud for over three years, John and his family can have their lives back and enjoy the peace they deserve.”
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